Jamey Johnson Opens Up About Past Struggles With Addiction, “I Barely Survived”

Jamey Johnson Gets Candid About Sobriety Journey

Jamey Johnson is entering a new chapter in his career, signing with a new record label and preparing to release his first studio album in fourteen years. It’s an exciting time, but the journey to this point hasn’t been easy.

In a recent interview with Billboard, Johnson openly discussed his past struggles with addiction, a topic he doesn’t shy away from in his new song, “Sober.”

“I had my last drink in September 2011,” Johnson revealed. “Then I quit smoking pot in 2015. I think that lasted about eight years. Nine years. In that time period, it was all about sobriety.”

Johnson says that choosing to go sober was a life-changing decision, one he knows was good for him. He shared that he’s now mostly sober, after “barely surviving” his addiction at its peak.

“And with a sober mind, I’m able to do things like get a pilot’s license, manage a business, start a product line,” he added. “I may still break out a joint if I’m writing or something like that. But I don’t play games with the alcohol. That’s what led me down a dark path of self-destruction back then and I barely survived.”

“Alcohol was an incendiary way of destructing myself,” Johnson continued. “Everything just went up in in flames and you couldn’t put the fire out, you just had to wait for it to all come to ashes and then try to rebuild when you got done. And it seemed to me like I owed myself a better way to live than that.”

Jamey Johnson’s New Album Midnight Gasoline to be Released on Friday, November 8.

Johnson is set to release his first solo album in over a decade. In the same Billboard interview, he shared how his longtime friend and collaborator Toby Keith inspired him to create the upcoming album.

Jamey Johnson and Toby Keith had been friends for years, often working closely together in the studio on multiple projects. However, in February, Keith passed away at age 62 after a battle with stomach cancer.

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Following the shocking news of his friend’s passing, Johnson came to a powerful realization that life can end at any moment, and he still had music he wanted to share with the world.

“When Toby passed away, it moved everything into high gear because I realized that that was the end of his discography, that we weren’t getting another Toby Keith record,” Johnson said. “And that’s what drove me to wanting to finish my own discography. It’s what made me understand that I’m nowhere near done, and so it’s time to get busy. After he passed away, I immediately started talking about this session and started trying to get all the particulars in order. It was time for me to get in the studio again.”

We’re thrilled to see Jamey Johnson releasing new music and can’t wait to see what’s next!